Some subjects shine; others lag. On health it is strong: it is healthier than 98% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is safety — its crime rate is higher than 98% of U.S. towns, with 5,530 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. It lags on cost of living as well (D): the typical home is worth about $823K, 7.1 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. The overall grade lands at B−, 128th of 285 in Washington. Set against the rest, it does better than 50% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Virginia V and RELIEF (lightship). Just over two thirds of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more locally, against 30% in Washington’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Virginia V is one of 8 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its founding year, 1851, comes before those of 94% of the Washington towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 188 in 1860, 737,015 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 5 maps from 1894 on.
227 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 2%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
Seattle draws workers from Bellevue and beyond and has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Washington rate.
Its widest gap with Washington is COPD: 2.9% of its 630,174 adults have COPD, against 5.1% statewide.
In Seattle, 6.5% of adults smoke cigarettes. On the CDC’s 31 measures, Seattle is ahead of Washington on 22 and behind on 3. Two figures for adults in the town: 8.8% report frequent physical distress, 24% have high blood pressure.
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $823K.
Below: Two of its 191 schools, each with why it was picked. The Seattle School District No. 1 runs its public schools. 6 public schools serve Seattle, with 3,445 students in all.
Violent crime runs at 7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Washington rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 44.2 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Washington rate, most of it theft.
Among 132 Washington towns, just 3 have a higher property offense rate than Seattle.
613,163 jobs are based in Seattle, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 469,568 in 2013 to 613,163.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 6 miles. Since 2013, Seattle has added 143,595 jobs, to 613,163 in 2023. For workers in the town, the share who work remotely from home is 35%. The top destinations are Bellevue (8%), Redmond (6%) and Kirkland (2%).
60%work in town
Seattle
Washington towns
U.S. towns
Work from home
35%
15%
11%
Median household income
$124,000
$98,000
$80,000
Below the poverty line
9.9%
7.9%
9.6%
Average trip to work
26 minutes
27 minutes
25 minutes
Where working residents work
In Seattle60%
Bellevue8%
Redmond6%
Kirkland2%
Renton2%
6 mi
median commute distance
613,163
jobs based in Seattle
A job hub
jobs vs. working residents
A+
Walkability grade: among the most walkable U.S. towns
Discovery Park, at 569 acres with 22.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Trails total 194 miles in 272 parks and preserves. The trail density in Seattle is 1.4 miles per square mile.
At 7.1 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income, the typical home (about $823K) costs more against local pay than in 76% of Washington towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The typical value, about $823K, is 10% below its June 2022 peak.
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home lost 1.8% of its value. Seattle’s midpoint rent comes in at $2,030 a month. Among households in the town, 44% are owner-occupiers.
156 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 19 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 156 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Seattle. Federal aid has come to Seattle households in 13 declared disasters; the latest was in 2025.
The Seattle Sand Pt Wsfo weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 76.7°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.8°.
In Seattle, the January low is 37°F. About 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Seattle ( see-AT-əl) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is the 18th-most populous city in the United States with a population of 784,777 in 2025, while the Seattle metropolitan area at over 4.15 million residents is the 15th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation. The city is the county seat of King County, the most populous county in Washington. Seattle's growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington. It is the northernmost major city in the United…
Seattle grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #128 of 285 in Washington. It grades A+ for health, D− for safety and A for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Seattle, WA expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
What is Seattle, WA known for?
25 notable people were born here, including Bill Gates and Jimi Hendrix.
in town
in town
in town
